{"id":108544,"date":"2025-02-04T17:54:46","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T01:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=108544"},"modified":"2025-02-07T14:43:26","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T22:43:26","slug":"6th-street-playhouses-groundhog-day-the-musical-is-whimsical-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/6th-street-playhouses-groundhog-day-the-musical-is-whimsical-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"6th Street Playhouse&#8217;s &#8216;Groundhog Day: The Musical&#8217; is whimsical fun"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"featured-image-beside\">\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header class=\"entry-header\"><span class=\"cat-links\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">POSTED IN<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/localnewsmatters.org\/category\/arts-entertainment\/\" rel=\"category tag\">ARTS &amp; ENTERTAINMENT<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"entry-title \">Review: 6th Street Playhouse\u2019s \u2018Groundhog Day: The Musical\u2019 is whimsical fun<\/h1>\n<div class=\"entry-subhead\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta\"><span class=\"byline\">by <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/localnewsmatters.org\/author\/woody-weingarten-bay-city-news-foundation\/\">Woody Weingarten, Bay City News \u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/span><span class=\"posted-on\">February 4, 2025<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"post-thumbnail\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-newspack-featured-image-large size-newspack-featured-image-large wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/localnewsmatters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/GHD-Welcomes.jpg?fit=1125%2C900&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1125\" height=\"900\" data-perfmatters-preload=\"\" data-hero-candidate=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 10pt\"><em>&#8220;Groundhog Day: The Musical,&#8221; a fun show based on the popular movie, runs at 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa through Feb. 23. (Photo by Eric Chazankin\/Courtesy 6th Street Playhouse via Bay City News)\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"main-content\">\n<article id=\"post-151017\" class=\"post-151017 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-arts-entertainment tag-6th-street-playhouse tag-danny-rubin tag-garet-waterhouse tag-groundhog-day-the-musical tag-karen-miles tag-lucas-sherman tag-michelle-pagano tag-nelson-brown tag-ted-smith tag-tim-minchin entry\">\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n\n<p>\u201cGroundhog Day: the Musical\u201d is a well-acted whimsical romp\u2026<br \/>\n\u201cGroundhog Day: the Musical\u201d is a well-directed whimsical romp\u2026<br \/>\n\u201cGroundhog Day: the Musical\u201d is a well-written whimsical romp\u2026<br \/>\n\u2026despite its intentional time-loop repetition.<\/p>\n<p>The 6th St. Playhouse production in Santa Rosa is decidedly edgier, darker and more sexualized than the smash 1993 film starring Bill Murray about a nasty weatherman assigned to cover Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, who finds his humanity after getting trapped in a time warp.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<div id=\"id_127394\" class=\"newspack-popup-container newspack-popup newspack-inline-popup\" role=\"button\" data-segments=\"35393,35392\" data-frequency=\"0,0,0,month\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-newspack-newsletters-subscribe newspack-newsletters-subscribe multiple-lists\" data-success-message=\"Thank you for signing up!\">\n<div class=\"newspack-newsletters-email-input\">It\u2019s also about 40 minutes longer, forgivable when considering that the show contains 28 musical numbers (plus one reprise).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-151021\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/localnewsmatters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/GroundhogNelson-Keyboard.jpg?resize=780%2C624&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"624\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt\"><strong><em>Nelson Brown plays weatherman Phil Connors in 6th Street Playhouse\u2019s \u201cGroundhog Day: The Musical.\u201d (Photo by Eric Chazankin\/Courtesy 6th Street Playhouse)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Nelson Brown, who alternates in the Phil Connors lead role with Garet Waterhouse, absolutely owns the stage. His frantic physical-comedy chops are extraordinary, and his voice is potent, too. Michelle Pagano as Rita Hanson, his female foil, plays her part much straighter, but has exquisite vocal cords.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-151022\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/localnewsmatters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/GroundhogMichelle-Nelson.jpg?resize=780%2C624&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"624\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 10pt\"><em>Nelson Brown plays weatherman Phil Connors and Michelle Pagano is Rita Hanson in 6th Street Playhouse\u2019s \u201cGroundhog Day: The Musical.\u201d (Photo by Eric Chazankin\/Courtesy 6th Street Playhouse)<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Ted Smith, who portrays insurance peddler Ned Ryerson, surprises with a soulful voice in his only solo, the plaintive \u201cNight Will Come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A multi-racial chorus of singers in all shapes and sizes acquits itself well by starting and finishing together <em>all<\/em> the time.<\/p>\n<p>Laughter from the audience occasionally drowns out a line or two, with the heartiest guffaws stemming from clever use of a vehicle that redefines minivan; three raucous drunks in a jeep; small dolls that stand in for a groundhog, a newborn, and a pooch.<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s a plethora of other gags. Director David Lear not only draws every possible chuckle from them, but he also creates awesome abbreviated, strobe-enhanced scenes and ensures music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and book by Danny Rubin are skillfully delivered.<\/p>\n<p>The production successfully utilizes projections of falling snow and a speedway, and other highlights include cast members marching up the aisles of the cozy theater, a magnificent upbeat eight-person tap dance choreographed by Karen Miles, and a backstage seven-piece orchestra of live musicians led by Lucas Sherman.<\/p>\n<p>Flaws? The first act is a bit sluggish. Occasional lyrics are muffled. Not much to gripe about.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple words can define \u201cGroundhog Day: The Musical.\u201d Try one of these: bouncy, goofy, fun.<br \/>\nMultiple words can define \u201cGroundhog Day: The Musical.\u201d Try one of these: bouncy, edgy, fun.<br \/>\nMultiple words can define \u201cGroundhog Day: The Musical.\u201d Try one of these: bouncy, amusing, fun.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u201cGroundhog Day: The Musical\u201d continues through Feb. 23 at 6th Street Playhouse, 52 W. Sixth St., Santa Rosa. Tickets are $29 to $55.95 at <a href=\"https:\/\/6thstreetplayhouse.com\/shows\/2024-25\/groundhog-day-the-musical\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">6thstreetplayhouse.com.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>This article was first published on<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/localnewsmatters.org\/\">LocalNewsMatters.org<\/a>, a nonprofit site supported by Bay City News Foundation <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baycitynews.org\/contact\/\">http:\/\/www.baycitynews.org\/contact\/<\/a>.\u00a0<b><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><b>Sherwood \u201cWoody\u201d Weingarten, a longtime member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle, can be contacted by email at <a href=\"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/woody-weingarten\/voodee@sbcglobal.net\">voodee@sbcglobal.net<\/a>or on his websites, <\/b><\/em><em><b><a href=\"https:\/\/woodyweingarten.com\/\">https:\/\/woodyweingarten.com<\/a><\/b><\/em><b> <\/b><em><b>and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/vitalitypress.com\/\">https:\/\/vitalitypress.com<\/a><\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POSTED INARTS &amp; ENTERTAINMENT Review: 6th Street Playhouse\u2019s \u2018Groundhog Day: The Musical\u2019 is whimsical fun by Woody Weingarten, Bay City News \u00a0February 4, 2025 &#8220;Groundhog Day: The Musical,&#8221; a fun&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":3.9,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-108544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"<div class='yasr-small-block-bold'><span class='yasr-visitor-votes-must-sign-in'>You must sign in to vote<\/span><\/div>"},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108544\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}